Count On Me
by C-Rokkk
Summary: Set at the end of season 5-right before they go to Vegas. Mostly Chandler & Monica, but snippets of the others.
1. Chapter 1

**I've recently gotten into Friends. I didn't watch it while it was on the air, but now I can't get enough of it.**

 **But anyway, I love, love, _love_ Chandler and Monica. They are the cutest! **

**I didn't, however, like how the show would have them argue and then had them make up in the same episode. I wanted them together and happy, but I wanted more drama. The show was a comedy show, and I get that, but I like drama, I can't help it. So, I decided to write some!**

 **This is set around the end of season 5, right before they go to Las Vegas.**

* * *

Monica walked into her apartment, hung her jacket and purse on the pegs behind the door and flopped down on the couch. She looked down at her watch to learn that Chandler would be home soon. She rubbed her hand over her face and held her fingers on her lips.

The sound of the door opening made her jump, but she stood to meet Phoebe in the kitchen, "Hey." She said, walking straight to the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of water, "Oh my god, I had this customer today that used the craziest pick up line I've ever heard. He said 'my love for you is like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in.' She laughed and took a sip of water, and set it down on the table.

Monica chuckled a little and sat down next to her, "Well, what did you say?"

Phoebe furrowed her eyebrows together at her friend's weird tone, "I said, gross! But then I gave him my number anyway. I figured if it took him that long to come up with that line then I should probably go out with him." She laughed again, but when Monica didn't, she put the lid back on her water bottle and turned to face her completely, "What's wrong, Monica?"

Monica looked up at her and shook her head, "Nothing. What makes you think something is wrong?"

"Because I'm your friend and I know you, and I'm a little bit psychic. So I know something is bothering you. What is it?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, "The fact that you gave that guy your number is really bugging me."

Phoebe turned her head and crossed her arms, "Monica."

She sighed and sat up straight, placing her palms down on her pants and rubbing them back and forth, "Okay. Last night, Chandler and I were watching a movie and in the movie the guy didn't want to get married but the woman he fell in love with was a wedding planner. And in the movie, the guy was trying to convince himself that he would get married just because she wanted it so much and she was trying to convince herself that she didn't need marriage because he didn't want it. So I told Chandler that it was us because he was never going to ask me, and I want it so bad…and he flipped out."

Phoebe nodded, "Monica you know he loves you, right? He has said he was going to marry you one day."

Monica sighed, "I know, I was kidding! But he flipped out and said that I was pushing him into it, and I wasn't trying to. He blew it way out of proportion. So we went to bed, and he went to work and I talked to him at lunch and he's still upset. He said he wanted to 'talk' when he got home."

Phoebe took another sip of her water and shook her head, "He's gonna be fine, Mon. He probably wants to talk about it, but things will be fine."

Monica put her elbows on the table to hold up her head, "Well, that's not all, Pheebs." She sighed, "I went to the bank today and I…ran into Richard."

Her friend's mouth fell open, "Oh my god." The two remained silent for a long time, until Phoebe cleared her throat.

Monica moved her hands from holding up her head to tangled up on the table. Her leg bounced nervously under the table. "We talked for a little while, and he wanted to go and have lunch so I did and we talked about stuff and…"

"You slept with him?!" Phoebe yelled, her mouth hanging open.

Monica waved and tried to quiet her down, "No, Phoebe, I didn't sleep with him." She sighed and slammed her eyes shut, "But he was being so sweet and kind, and when we started to leave, I thought he was leaning down to hug me, but when he did, he just…kissed me."

Her friend sighed with relief, "Oh, I'm so glad you didn't sleep with him."

She shook her head, "No, I wouldn't." She sat up and grabbed Phoebe's arm, "But it was good, you know?"

Phoebe put her hands over her ears, "Oh, Monica. I don't want to hear this. I love Chandler. And you leaving him is going to break his heart."

Monica's expression changed immediately, "No, no, no. That's not what I meant. I'm not going to leave Chandler. I meant that the kiss was good because it was like…kissing a friend. It meant nothing. I didn't have one speck of romantic feelings for him." She sighed, a smile on her face, "I know, now, that I am 100 percent completely and absolutely over Richard. And I didn't think I would ever be to that point."

Phoebe relaxed a little and sat back in her chair, "So, what are you going to tell Chandler?"

She shook her head, "I'm not sure. Our anniversary is coming up and I don't want to ruin it with a stupid fight."

"Ooh, I know! Why don't we go to Vegas and see Joey? It will be fun! And I'm going with you."

"Pheebs…I was hoping to get some alone time with Chandler."

"That's fine! You and him can spend all the time you want with each other. I'll be playing the slots anyway. And spending time with Joey." She pointed at her friend, "But you deserted me when you went to London and you're not going to desert me again. I am going."

Both women walked out of the apartment, only to run into Chandler in the hallway. "Oh, hi honey."

Chandler stuck his left hand in his pocket, "Hey, are you leaving? I wanted to talk to you."

Monica nodded and watched as he loosened his tie, "Yes, but I'll be back soon, okay?"

He nodded and pointed towards his door with his thumb, "I guess I'll check on the chick and the duck." She smiled at him as she passed him, and then blew out a sigh of relief at Phoebe.

A couple of hours passed and Monica stood in the hallway, knocking on the door across the hall from her own. She was biting her bottom lip, her mind swimming with what she needed to say to him. He finally opened the door, a beer in his left hand with the television on behind him, "Hey."

She smiled at him a little, crossing her arms as she entered their apartment, "Hey."

He put the beer down on the counter and grabbed the remove, muting the TV. "So um, I'm glad you stopped by. I wanted to talk to you about what happened yesterday." Chandler said, walking over to where she was standing. "I'm sorry I kind of…"

"Went ballistic?"

Chandler chuckled a little and stuck his hands in his pockets, "Well…yeah."

Monica sighed, "And I'm sorry for freaking you out." She stepped closer to him and put her hands on his arms, "I want you to know that I am not rushing you into anything."

He stepped back from her, letting her hands fall back down by her side, "I know, but I think I freak out when you make comments like that because I worry that you're going to meet somebody that wants to get married now. And you'll marry him."

Monica shook her head, "Oh honey…I'm not going to leave you." She sighed, "I know you're not ready. And that's okay."

He pulled up a corner of his mouth, "Really?" He took a step over to her, placing his hands on her waist, pulling her to him, "Well, I'm glad to hear that."

She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, closing the distance between them completely. He leaned down and kissed her, moving his hand up to the back of her head to hold her there a little longer. When they broke, she moved over to her purse, "So I got you an anniversary present."

He took the envelope from her and opened it, "A trip to Vegas?"

She let the smile grow on her face, "Yeah. I thought we could go and surprise Joey. Get to spend a little time alone. Me, you, and Phoebe…who invited Ross and Rachel."

Chandler chuckled, "I love the alone time idea, you know, me and you and four of our friends."

She clapped her hands together, "So we can go?"

He nodded, wrapping his arms around her again, "Yes, we can go." He kissed her again, "Thank you."

"Now I need to tell you something."

He pressed his lips together, "That doesn't sound good."

She sat down on the stool behind the counter and twisted her hands together, "Today after you and I talked at lunch, and I found out you were still upset with me, I had some errands to run and one of them was to the bank and I ran into Richard."

Chandler crossed his arms and nodded, "Oh, really?"

Monica nodded, "Yes, and he wanted to have lunch."

"Okay, so you had lunch with him?"

She nodded slowly, "Yes."

"And he told you that he would marry you, and have children with you?"

She swallowed, "He didn't say he would have children with me."

"But he will marry you?"

Monica cleared her throat with nervousness, "Yes." Chandler threw up his hands in frustration.

"So now I have to worry about Mr. Spectacular coming in to sweep you off your feet and take you away from me?"

Monica shook her head and stepped over to him to grab his hands, "No, Chandler, he can't. I don't want to be with him."

He stepped back from her again, "Yeah, well, you loved him."

"Right. I loved him. Past tense. I love you. Now. Today. Right this second."

Chandler stuck his left hand in his pocket and rubbed his face with his right, "So, is there anything else?"

Monica bit her bottom lip, but before she could say anything, the door to Chandler's apartment swung open to reveal her brother, "Hey guys." He opened the refrigerator to find nothing he wanted in it, so he closed it again. "Phoebe said we're going to Vegas, but I've got a class I can't miss Friday. So I'm not gonna be able to go until Saturday."

They both nodded, but Chandler's voice was heard, "Okay."

Ross lifted an eyebrow, looking between the two of them, "Everything okay?"

Chandler nodded, looking over at Monica, "Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine."

Ross walked over to Chandler, "Can I talk to you a sec?" Ross looked over at his sister, "Alone?"

Monica walked over to her boyfriend and planted a kiss on his lips, "I'm gonna go pack. I'll see you later?" She closed the door behind her, leaning her head back on it.

Chandler stared at the door Monica just walked out of for a few seconds before turning to Ross, "What's up?"

When Ross went into a long spill about Rachel again, Chandler tried to listen, but all he could think about was the woman across the hall. She had to have lunch with Richard of all people.

He had no idea why it bothered him so much.

Well, yes, he did.

He let out an audible sigh that didn't go unheard by Ross, "So that's why I think I need to tell her, you know?"

Chandler nodded, "Yeah, sure. Sure."

Ross held his hands open, "Did you hear a word I just said?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm sorry." He ran a hand through his hair and sat down in the recliner behind him, "I can't handle any more right now."

"What's wrong?" Ross asked him, sitting down on the stool.

Chandler looked over at him. "Monica and I had a fight yesterday. And today she goes and has lunch with Richard."

"She what?" Ross asked.

"Yeah, she ran into him at the bank and he wanted to go and have lunch so she did."

Ross looked down at the floor, "What happened?"

He rubbed his hands together, "Well, he told her he'd marry her."

Ross sighed, "Well, that's nothing new, right? He wanted to marry her when they were together."

Chandler gave him a WTF look, "I know that, Ross."

"My point is, that when she was with him, she wouldn't marry him because he didn't want children. That's a deal breaker for her." He leaned up and put his hand his friend's shoulder, "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Chandler nodded, "Yeah, yeah. Maybe you're right."

Ross pointed to Chandler's room, "So why don't you go in there and pack, and go on this trip and have a good time?"

He stood up and stuck his hands in his pockets, looking over at his friend, "Thanks."

Ross nodded and stood up as well, "You're welcome. And next time, maybe you can help me with my problem."

They both chuckled as Ross headed out the door, Chandler into his room.

The next morning, Chandler headed across the hall, his bag over his shoulder. "Hey." He said to Phoebe, who was sitting on the couch, her travel bag next to her.

"Oh hey!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together, "Are you ready to go?"

Chandler nodded and adjusted his bag higher on his shoulder, "Yeah, I'm ready. Where's Mon?"

Monica came out of her bedroom, her bags in hand, "Hey!" She said excitedly, running up to him for a kiss, "I stopped by last night but you weren't home."

He shook his head, "Yeah, uh, I went over to Ross's for a while. He wanted to watch the game."

Monica smiled, "Oh, okay. Well, let our vacation begin!"

The door opened and Ross walked in, "Oh hey, glad I caught you. Wanted to say bye."

Rachel walked into the room, hugging Phoebe and moving over to the kitchen to Chandler and Monica, "I'll miss you tonight, Roomie!" She told her.

"Yeah, right. We know you'll be naked." Phoebe said, laughing.

"Naked?" Rachel said, laughing with her, "I'm not going to be naked."

"You'll be alone, Rachel. We know what you'll be doing."

"We'll see you guys Saturday, right?" Monica cut in, laughing at Rachel's confused look.

Ross and Rachel both nodded, "Yeah, our flight lands at 9:00 Saturday morning." Ross said. Chandler reached down and picked up his and Monica's bag, and reached for Phoebe's in her hand.

"Alright, I'm heading downstairs. I'll get us a cab."

"Thanks honey." Monica said, smiling at him as he left the apartment. She turned to Ross, "So, did they win?"

Ross looked from side to side over the bottle of water he was drinking, "Did who win?"

"The game you and Chandler watched last night."

He looked around again, "Oh, yeah. The uh...Knicks game. Yes, they won." Monica crossed her arms and stared at her older brother. He knew that look, so he shoved a thumb towards the door, "I'm going to go see if Chandler needs any help tracking down a cab."

Ross met his friend out on the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets, and the three bags over his right shoulder. "No luck on the cab, huh?"

Chandler looked over at him and shook his head, "No, I've only seen two and they were both occupied."

Ross put his hand on Chandler's shoulder, "You okay?"

Chandler turned to face him, "Yeah. I just…can't get what happened out of my mind."

Ross sighed, "Come on, Chandler. Don't let this small, non-important issue mess up what you two have."

He ran a hand through his hair and watched as Ross waved down a cab and one stopped in front of them, "Yeah, you're right." The two men loaded the back of the cab and then stood, waiting for Phoebe and Monica to come down. "I think I'm just going to let it go."

"Good, that's probably what is best." The rest of the gang now stood in front of them, "Alright, Rachel and I will see you in a couple of days." Ross gave chandler a bro hug and then moved to kiss Monica and Phoebe on the cheek, and moved out the way to allow Rachel to do the same.

The trio sat down in the cab and headed to the airport. Monica poked Chandler with her elbow, "Hey."

He looked down at her and smiled, "Hey."

"Why did you tell me you were at Ross's last night?"

Chandler looked away from her for just a second and then back down at her, "I was. We watched the Yankee game." Monica crossed her arms and continued to stare at her boyfriend, so he sighed and turned in his seat to face her some more, "Okay, I wasn't. I was still upset about the lunch and I just wanted to be alone."

Monica pressed her lips together, "Are you still upset now?"

He smiled at her and leaned down, capturing her lips in a soft, sweet kiss, "No."

She smiled and grabbed his hand, squeezing it, "So, we're okay, really?"

He nodded, "We're great."

She leaned up to kiss him again, and Phoebe groaned, "I'm glad everything's okay but you two are really sickening." The three of them chuckled.

"Come on, turn that seat belt sign off, I really have to pee!"

Monica looked up at her friend, "Pheebs, why didn't you go before we took off?"

Chandler leaned forward to look at her as well, "I did, but the takeoff is the worst part! It always makes me nervous."

They both chuckled when the plane dinged and the seatbelt sign turned off, prompting Phoebe to jump up and practically run down the aisle to the bathroom in the back of the plane.

Monica closed her magazine and turned in her seat towards her boyfriend, pulling on his jacket to pull him closer to her, planting a kiss on his lips. He turned and moved closer to her, holding her there for a while.

When they finally broke, Chandler brushed the hair away from her face and cupped her cheek, "What was that for?" He asked.

She smiled, kissing his lips again, "Nothing. I just…hate it when we fight."

He returned her smile, nodding a little, "Me too." She leaned over more and pulled him into a hug, holding him there. He kissed her neck and spoke into it, "I'm sorry I lied to you about last night."

She shook her head and squeezed him even closer to her body, "No. There's no reason to be sorry. I was the one that screwed up." Phoebe sighed with relief as she returned to her seat next to Monica.

"Oh, I am so glad you told him about the kiss! I hate keeping secrets."

Monica's eyes grew to about twice their size as she felt Chandler back up from her, "What?" He said, looking at Phoebe and then at Monica.

Phoebe's face changed from happy to concerned immediately, "Oh shit." She mumbled, looking over at Monica, who's eyes were shut so she wouldn't have to look at either of them.

Monica let out a sigh and finally opened them to find Chandler staring right back at her, "What is she talking about, Monica?"

"Okay." She took a deep breath and reached for his hand, "Okay. While we were at lunch…"

"You kissed him?" Monica tried to swallow the lump in her throat without success. But she didn't have to answer, he knew by the look on her face. "Oh god." He covered his mouth with his hand, "You _did._ You kissed him?" Monica didn't do anything but blink, but again, his question was answered. "Oh my god."

"Chandler, I'm sorry. But you have to know it…"

"With tongue?"

She sighed, "That's not important! If you would just…"

"So basically, you _made out_ with Richard."

"Will you please…"

He held up a hand to stop her from going any further. "You know, I really don't care. I don't want to hear anything you have to say right now." Standing from his seat, he walked past her and Phoebe's vacated seat.

Monica leaned forward and rubbed her face with her hands. How was she going to fix this?


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews, guys!**

 **I know this chapter (and more to come) seems like the opposite of ChanMon love, but I promise you, I love them too much not to get them back together (eventually). The adventure's half the fun!**

 **Chandler and Monica might seem out of character a little in this story, but that's just because I'm making them more dramatic. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Chandler was in the plane's restroom, leaning on the sink, staring down at it. How could she?

How could she make out with Richard?

And then lie about it?

He groaned and stood up straight, rubbing his hands over his face. His mind was racing with a million unanswered questions: What was he supposed to do now? What was he supposed to say to her?

Filling his hands with water, he splashed it on his face and grabbed paper towels to dry off. He leaned his head on the wall behind him and closed his eyes. The knock on the door made him jump.

"Sir?" He sighed loudly and cleared his throat before answering the woman.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright? You've been in there for a while."

He nodded to himself in the mirror, "Yes, I'm fine. I'll be out in a second." He heard the flight attendants mumbling behind the door. "Damn it." He said to himself, and splashed more water on his face and dried it off again before opening the door. He almost walked into the woman that was talking to him through the door.

"Are you sure you're alright? You were in there for half an hour."

Chandler nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine." He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down the aisle, seeing the back of Monica's head. "Actually, is there any way I could sit somewhere else?"

The flight attendant looked confused at his tone, but answered his question, "No sir, I'm sorry. The flight is booked solid. There are no seats available. We'll need you to return to your seat, we will begin descending very soon."

He nodded and ran and hand through his hair, "Okay, thank you."

He made his way back down the aisle and to his seat, making a point to not make eye contact with the woman that sat in the middle.

She looked at him, placing her hand on his arm, but he pulled it away from her, "Chandler, will you please let me talk for a second?"

He answered her, but it wasn't the answer to her question, "Where's Phoebe?"

Monica looked over her shoulder and shrugged one of them, "I don't know."

"We are landing soon. I should probably try and find her." He began to stand but she pulled down on his arm, not letting it go this time.

"Chandler, stop. Please talk to me."

"Monica, let me go, please. I can't do this right now."

"Fine, when do you want to talk about this?" He finally looked at her, and she took the opportunity to look right into his blue eyes.

He held her stare for a few seconds, but pulled his arm away again, "Not now." Standing from his seat, he walked down the aisle again, looking for his friend that had gone AWOL a long time ago.

He looked back and forth at the seats and found her near the front of the plane, where she sat with a toddler in her lap, coloring with him. He smiled and knelt down, "Hey, Pheebs?"

She looked up at him, "Oh, no." She said softly.

Chandler pointed with his thumb backwards, "I just wanted to tell you that we're gonna be landing soon. They'll want you back in your seat."

"We're coloring an airplane." Phoebe stated.

"And it's great, but I don't want you to get arrested on the plane because you're not listening to the rules." He smiled at the little girl sitting in the middle, watching Phoebe and her brother color in the book.

"I can't." She told him. Chandler sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Why, Phoebe?"

"Because I can't go back there and face Monica, face you, when I know that it's my fault that you're mad at her."

Chandler stood and moved out of the aisle for someone else to pass, and waited until the flight attendant to finish her announcement that all passengers should return to their seats. Chandler pointed up at the ceiling of the plane, "See?"

Phoebe looked down at the three year old in her lap, "Pass me the blue, please."

The child handed her the crayon, "Pheebs, none of this is your fault."

"It is my fault. I'm not going back there until you promise me that you two will work this out." Chandler groaned and looked at her again, "Will you promise me that?"

"Phoebe, come on." Chandler looked up at the flight attendant looking down at him.

"Sir, ma'am, you'll need to return to your seat."

Chandler nodded, "See?"

Phoebe shook her head, "Are you going to work this out?"

He sighed, "Phoebe, I'm not going to talk about this with you, and I'm not going to talk about this with her right now. What I need you to do is come with me back to our seats before we're arrested. Please."

Phoebe sighed and looked at the woman who was asking again for the pair to return to their seats. "Sir, ma'am, if you're not in your seats in two minutes, I'm going to have to involve the air marshal. And I don't want to do that, and I don't think you want me to do that."

"Fine. But I'm doing it under protest, just so you know." She looked down at the little boy, "Thank you for coloring with me, Micah." The little boy smiled up at Phoebe as she stood and walked behind Chandler back to their row of seats.

Chandler walked in front of the two women he was traveling with through the airport. He waved down a cab and placed the shoulder bags in the trunk, sitting down in the yellow car next to Phoebe, who sat in the middle.

The ten-minute ride from the airport to the booked hotel seemed to last an hour in the cab, since the only man talking was the cab driver, making bad jokes.

The trio spotted their friend and each of them greeted him happily, "It's great to see you guys, what are you doing here?"

"Well we missed you! So we wanted to take a mini vacation and come see you." Phoebe told him.

Chandler chuckled dryly, "Although Monica would probably rather be here with Richard."

Joey looked confused at Chandler's statement, "What? Richard who?"

Monica was staring at Chandler, "Really?"

Joey looked over at Phoebe, "What's going on?"

Phoebe shook her head tightly, "It's not the time."

Monica crossed her arms and continued to stare at him, "You can't talk about it on the plane but you can talk about it here? In front of everyone? Who does that?"

"Yeah, because the plane is so private!" Chandler said loudly, causing the people in the busy casino around them to look at him.

Monica threw up her hands in frustration and walked passed them towards the elevators of the hotel to get to her room. Chandler watched her for a second and patted Joey on his shoulder, "Good to see you, man. I'm gonna..."

"Yeah, yeah. Go fix it." Joey said.

Chandler pressed his lips together and shook his head, "I'm not making any promises."

Phoebe's heart sank at his words and she jogged to catch up to him, "Chandler, I'm sorry you found out the way you did. I didn't mean to ruin what you and Monica have."

He grabbed her hands, "Phoebe, it's not your fault at all. Please stop thinking that. I'm not mad at you, okay?"

Phoebe nodded and pulled him into a hug, holding him there as she spoke to him, "Forgive her. It's not worth losing her over."

Chandler backed up from her, "It's not that simple, Pheebs."

Taking a deep breath, Chandler used the card to unlock the door for his and Monica's hotel room. She was sitting at the table with her hands holding up her head, but she looked at him when he closed the door and put their bags down on the bed.

He knelt down to the mini refrigerator and got a cold bottle of water out, taking a sip and leaning on the TV stand behind him. Monica continued to watch him, waiting on him to speak first.

The room was painfully silent, and her nerves couldn't take it anymore, "I hope you don't think that I would rather be here with Richard."

Chandler looked over at her, swinging the bottle of water back and fourth between his index and middle finger. "You know, Mon, I'm not sure what you'd rather do with Richard."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Nothing, Chandler. I don't want to do anything with him."

"You made out with him."

She shook her head, "No, I didn't. It was just a kiss."

He moved to sit down on the bed, "If it included tongue, you and I both know that it was more than a kiss."

She sighed loud enough so he could hear it, "It wasn't like that."

"I've heard all of this before." Monica turned her head for a second, but then realized what he was talking about.

"This situation is nothing like the Debbie fiasco."

"Actually, it's almost identical to it. The only exception is that you haven't slept with Richard yet!"

Monica's mouth fell open, "I'm not going to sleep with him!"

"Yeah, well, how do I know you haven't already?"

"You ass!" She yelled, and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "I haven't. You know I haven't!"

Chandler shook his head, "No, Monica. I don't know. You know why? I don't know if I can trust you. You didn't tell me the about the kiss, what else have you not told me?"

She came over to the bed and sat down next to him, "I need you to listen to me, please." He turned to face her, looking right into her blue eyes, "I made a mistake, and I'm sorry about it. The kiss meant nothing. It felt like kissing a friend." She rolled her eyes, "And I really didn't want you to find out the way you did."

Chandler looked away from her, "I have a hard time believing that. And stop trying to blame Phoebe, it's not her fault." He stood and walked and crossed the room, leaning against the TV stand again, "And you lied about it when I specifically asked you if anything else happened."

"Ross walked in." She said, and it made him look at her again, "Ross walked in and I couldn't tell you."

He shook his head and put his hands up, "You can't blame other people for making out with Richard. It's not Ross's fault, it's not Phoebe's fault, and before you try and find a way to blame Joey or Rachel, it's not their fault either."

"I'm not blaming them I just-."

"You know, I've really had enough of this right now. I'm gonna go…"

"Chandler, you're doing it again!"

"Doing what?"

"Cutting me off and running away. We're not going to fix this if we can't talk about it."

He nodded, "That's true. But at this moment, I really wonder if it can be fixed." Monica watched him as he opened the door and stepped on the other side of it.

"I can't believe you're this upset over a stupid kiss! It didn't mean anything and you're about to walk out on this relationship over this?"

He stepped back into the room, and pushed the door shut behind him. "No. I'm about to walk out on the relationship because the fact that you lied to me and I don't know if I can trust you anymore and I don't know if you're still in love with him or not."

Monica shook her head quickly, "God, Chandler, no! No, no, no! I'm in love with you!"

"Are you in love with me because he won't give you what you want? You want babies, right? And he won't give you that."

"No! I'm in love with you because we slept together in London and started dating and we fell in love!"

"You and I both know that if Richard were to knock on this door right now and tell you that he'd marry you and have a child with you would go running back to him, wouldn't you?"

Monica put her hands on her forehead in disbelief. She was shaking her head at this conversation, and she wondered if she'd entered crazy town. She walked over to where he was standing and looked into his equally blue eyes, grabbing his arms, "Are you trying to destroy this relationship so you won't have to be in one anymore?"

"What?" Chandler asked, his voice a little higher than it usually was.

She crossed her arms and stared at him, "Are you trying to destroy our relationship so that you don't have to be in one?" He laughed and Monica's face showed she failed to see anything funny, "What are you laughing at?"

"The fact that you're trying to turn things around so that it's my fault. I didn't do anything wrong, Monica. I haven't kissed anyone."

"It's just a coincidence that the day after we have a fight about commitment issues is the day we're having this fight? And you're saying you can't trust me anymore? Over a kiss?"

"No just a _kiss_ , Monica. But it was a kiss with your ex boyfriend, who, by the way, you wanted to marry. And who wants to marry you. And you didn't answer my question."

She sighed loudly, "What question?"

He stepped a few steps towards her and stood right in front of her, looking down at her face and directly into her eyes, "If Richard knocked on that door and told you that he would marry you tonight and have a child with you in nine months, would you go be with him?"

She sighed and looked down at the floor, grabbing his arms, "That's not going to happen, Chandler."

He backed up from her, holding his hands open, "Yeah, that's not exactly the answer I needed to hear. You know, I'm gonna go." He grabbed his bag off of the bed and walked to the door, walking all the way through it this time and slamming it behind him.

Monica sat down at the table again, staring at the wall opposite of it.

 _Several Hours later…_

The knock on Monica's hotel room startled her, but she stood quickly and walked over to it, slumping her shoulders when she looked through the peephole to learn that it wasn't Chandler, but Joey instead.

She sighed and opened the door, "Joey, I really don't feel like talking, okay?"

Joey stepped in the room anyway and shut the door. "I know, I just thought I would come by and make sure you're alright."

Monica put her hands on her hips, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just…want to, you know, cut off his other toe."

Joey's eyebrows scrunched together quickly, "What?"

"He's being _such_ a pain in the ass right now. He's acting like I killed his best friend."

He held up his hands, "Whoa, Monica. I'm Chandler's best friend. So let's not kill me, please."

She sat down on the bed, "I made a mistake." Joey moved to the bed and sat down next to her, "Why can't he forgive me for that? I'm human. We make mistakes. And he's not perfect."

Joey wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Phoebe got me up to speed. You know he's been through this before. That's why he's so upset."

"I _know_ Joey, but what happened in the past should have nothing to do with me."

Her friend sighed, "You know he wanted to marry her, right?"

Monica looked over at Joey, "What?"

"Yeah, yeah. Debbie was Carol's best friend. Chandler and Debbie and Ross and Carol used to date together and everything. They even proposed at the same time, and Debbie and Carol began to plan a double wedding."

"Chandler was going to marry her?"

"Oh yeah. He was crazy about her."

"And she cheated on him?"

"Yep. A week after he proposed, he saw them kissing. She convinced him that nothing was going on, it was a mistake, she didn't love that other guy, and then two days later he walked into her apartment and found her having sex with him."

Monica stood from the bed and walked around for a second, "Why didn't I know about this?"

Joey shrugged a shoulder, "I thought you did."

"I knew he dated a Debbie in college and I knew it was a bad breakup but I had no idea they were engaged. Why didn't Ross tell me?"

"You hated Chandler then, remember?"

"Hate is a strong word." Monica stated, but then thought about it some more. "Well, yeah. He was a jerk towards me back then. Hate's probably a good word." She sat down next to him again, "I'm not Debbie, though."

Joey put his arm around her shoulders again, "You just got to give him a little time. He'll get over it."

Monica scoffed, "It's already been three hours, Joey. Why hasn't he been back if he's going to get over it? I can't find him. He's literally hiding from me."

Joey's expression changed, "Oh…"

Monica was standing again, her hands on her hips. "What?"

"I thought you knew…"

"Knew what?"

"Chandler left. He said he needed time and space and…"

"Where did he go?"

Joey pointed with his thumb behind his shoulder, "Back to New York." He watched his friend's face fall with concern.

"Joey…" She brought a hand up to her face to wipe away a tear that had fallen, "…do you think I can fix this? Can I fix me and Chandler?"

He tried the hide the worried look on his face, but the next tear that fell down Monica's face showed him he didn't do a very good job. He stood and walked over to her, grabbing her face and wiping the tear off, "Yes. Just give him a little time. He'll get over this and everything will be back to normal." She lifted a corner of her mouth as he moved his hands from her face to around her back to pull her closer for a hug. "Besides, if he doesn't, I'll kick his ass." She let out a laugh.

"Thanks Joey."

She wiped her face again and broke the hug, kissing Joey on the cheek for his kindness, "I should go."

He shook his head, "I wouldn't, Mon. I would wait a couple of days at least. Give him a little time." She looked at him, and tried to think of a valid reason that he wouldn't be right, but came up empty. She held his stare for another second before sitting down at the table again.

Time.

It sucked.


	3. Chapter 3

Two Days Later…

Joey sighed as he unlocked the door to his apartment, walking in with his travel bags over his shoulder. Rachel and Monica followed behind him, going into their apartment across the hall. Monica called Joey's name just before he closed the door.

She sighed, deciding before she spoke that she didn't want to pull Joey further into this mess than he was already in it, "Nothing." She told him, and closed the door to her apartment.

Joey shut the door and put down his bags next to the couch, "Yo! Chandler!" He looked over his shoulder at the bathroom to find it empty, so he walked over to his friend's room and knocked on the door, "Chandler?" He called.

He found the room empty, so he shut both halves of the door flopped down on the couch, grabbing the remote and flipping on the TV.

A couple of Baywatch episodes later, the apartment door swung open and Joey turned around quickly, thinking that it was his roommate, but his face fell when he learned that it was Ross. "Hey, you and Chandler want to go a Knicks game tomorrow night? My boss has box tickets and he can't go."

"Yeah, yeah that sounds good." Joey cleared his throat and stood, heading towards the refrigerator, "I'll have to ask Chandler when he gets home."

Ross looked confused, "Well, where did he go?"

"I don't know. He hasn't been home since we got back."

"Where is he?"

Joey shrugged a shoulder, "I don't know."

"When he left Vegas, he did say he was coming home, right?"

"Yeah. He said he needed time and he was gonna come home and you know, think."

"I think he's taking this whole Monica kiss thing a little far. So she kissed Richard? It was an accident. It wasn't like they slept together."

Joey scoffed, "Ross you were there when the Debbie thing happened. You know how miserable he was."

Ross put his hands up, "I don't want to have this argument." Joey nodded.

"Yeah, it's not our fight anyway."

Ross sighed, his hands on his hips, "Should we go and try to find him?"

Joey shrugged, "How in the hell are we going to find him? If he's not here, Monica's, Central Perk, or at work, he could be anywhere in the world!"

"Well, what does Monica think?"

Joey shook his head, "She doesn't know he's not here. She just thinks he's avoiding her."

Ross rubbed a hand over his face, "Well we've got to tell her."

Joey shook his head, "Not yet, Ross. We've got to give him at least until tomorrow. If we tell her now, she's only going to get more upset and more worried. We've got to at least give him a day to get back."

Ross nodded, "Okay. But if he's not back by tomorrow, I'm going to call the police and report him missing."

19 Hours later…

Ross opened apartment 19's door, "Hey, is he here?" He asked quickly.

Joey shook his head, throwing down his piece of pizza. "No. And I've been here all damn day. The phone hasn't ringed once. Who _does_ that?"

Ross picked up the phone, "I'm reporting him." A few minutes passed, "Okay thank you." He put the phone down on the counter and sat down in the other leather chair next to Joey, "They're gonna call us back."

He nodded, "I just hope he's okay." Ross stood and clapped a hand on his friends shoulder, "I just want to know that he's okay, you know? What if he's…"

"No, Joey. He's fine. We can't think like that."

"I'm glad he's fine. Because when he gets back, I'm going to kick his ass!"

Ross nodded, "Come on. Lets go tell the girls."

Joey let out a breath and followed Ross out of his apartment, crossing the hallway. Ross knocked on the door, causing confusion from the man behind him, "Dude, why are you knocking? You never knock. Now they're going to think something's up!"

Inside, Monica snapped her head up towards the door. Who was knocking? Nobody ever knocked.

 _Chandler_ , she thought.

Maybe he was _finally_ ready to talk to her.

She pulled her longs sleeves down over the top of her hands as she walked to the door. She tucked her hair behind her ears and then opened the door, her face falling more when she learned it was her brother and Joey.

"Oh, hey." She greeted with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

She moved out of the doorway and left it open, the two men following her in, "Hey." Ross finally said, "What's going on?"

Monica shrugged a shoulder, "Nothing."

Ross watched as his sister walked back over to her couch, flopping down and resting her head on her hand. Ross searched his brain for anything to talk about other than what he needed to tell her.

"How was work?" He asked.

She shrugged one of her shoulders again, "Fine, I guess."

Joey had walked to the table to see what his friend had there to eat and found nothing, so he looked in the refrigerator and grabbed a can of soda before joining Ross and Monica in the living room. He sat in the chair on the side and studied Monica.

Honestly, she looked like crap. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and her pale complexion worried him. He looked down at the ground, turning the soda around in his hand.

This news wasn't going to help her.

She was the one that broke the awkward silence, "So um, what are you guys doing here?" Joey met Ross's eyes, and he found the same concern there that he hand on his own face.

Ross cleared his throat, "Well, um, it's about Chandler."

Monica's eyes grew bigger and she leaned up closer to him at mention of her boyfriend's name, "What did he say?"

Ross looked down at his hands, so Monica turned around to look at Joey for answers, "What? What's wrong? What aren't you telling me?"

Joey sighed, "Chandler is…"

"He's what?" Monica's voice was gravelly and panicked.

He reached over and grabbed her hands, and was shocked at how cold they were. He swallowed the lump in his throat, "The thing is, Mon, that Chandler isn't…"

"He isn't here." Ross finished for Joey, who was still holding Monica's hands to try and warm them up.

"What?" She pulled her hands away from Joey, still looking over at Ross, "What are you talking about?"

Joey sighed and reached for her cold hands again, desperately wanting to get them warm again. He was worried about her; "I haven't seen him since he left Vegas."

Monica's eyes grew again and she pulled away from Joey, standing and staring down at him, "Where in the hell is he?" She yelled.

Joey stood, "I don't know, Mon."

Ross stood up as well, "Monica, he's fine. He's probably…"

"I've gotta find him." She rushed into her room, hastily pulling on shoes.

"Monica, no. It's late, you're exhausted, and you have no idea where he is. I'm going to let you go out there." Ross said, pulling on her arm.

"Ross, let me go. I've got to find him. What if he's hurt?"

He shook his head, "I'm sure he's fine."

Joey had entered the room, "I'm worried too, Monica, but Chandler is a big boy. He can take care of himself."

Monica tried to pull away from her big brother again, but he held onto her arm tightly. "Let me go, please. Please, I need to…" Her tired body failed her as she hit his chest weakly with her free arm. He wrapped his arms around her as she broke down, crying into his shirt. "Where is he? Does he…" She hit his chest again, "Does he hate me that much?"

Ross let out a breath, rocking her softly, "No, he doesn't hate you, Mon. He doesn't." He pulled her down onto her bed and continued to hold her.

"I can't believe I messed this up."

Ross looked up at Joey, a look of disappointment on his face. He brushed down Monica's hair, mouthing words to Joey so he wouldn't upset her further.

 _I'm going to kill Chandler._

Joey looked away from him, looking down at Monica. He had never seen her this upset, and frankly, he wanted to kill his roommate too. He sat down on the other side of her, rubbing her shoulder.

They sat in silence for a while and eventually Monica fell asleep, her breathing finally slowed down, her tears dried on her face. Ross slowly stood up and picked her up with him, placing her down on the bed and covering her up, brushing the hair out of her face. He kissed her gently on the forehead and walked out of the room, checking one more time before he shut the door that she was sound asleep.

He sighed as he met Joey in the living room, "I'm going to kill him. She hasn't ever been this upset. He's made her feel like nothing, Joey."

Joey ran a hand through his hair. He was tired of defending Chandler, and he was running out of excuses for him anyway.

He let his head fall back, looking at the ceiling above him.

Where in the hell was Chandler?

Three Days Later…

Chandler stood in the familiar hallway, his bags over his shoulder. He looked between the two doors, sighing at number 20, and turning to 19, opening the door and walking in. He shut the door quietly; it was, after all, 2:00 in the morning.

He sighed and pulled the refrigerator door open, grabbing a bottle of water out of it and taking a big gulp. He closed it again and began to walk to his bedroom when the other room door in his apartment swung open so hard he wondered if the handle left a hole in the wall.

"Where in the hell have you been?" Joey yelled, walking towards him quickly.

Chandler held out his hands for a second and stared back at him, "Hey Joe, what's up?" Joey continued to stare at him, and he could see the fire in his friend's eyes. He sighed and sat his bag down on the couch, "Maybe I should've called but…"Joey couldn't take anymore, so he balled up a fist and used it to hit Chandler in the arm. "Ow! Damn it Joey! That hurt!"

"You better be glad it wasn't your face. And if I'm being honest, I want to punch you in the face right now, over and over again. What are you doing to her Chandler?" He was still talking very loudly, and Chandler wondered if any of the neighbors could hear him, specifically the ones across the hall.

He still held his arm where Joey had punched him, "Will you _please_ stop yelling?"

"No!" He yelled again, "I'm so pissed at you right now. Who disappears for a week without a word?"

Chandler sighed, "I'm sorry, okay? I was gonna call, but I wanted time alone. I knew if I called you'd get where I was out of me and you'd come and get me."

"Damn right I would've come and got you! Everybody has been panicked, okay? I didn't know if you were dead or alive!" Chandler sighed, rubbing his sore arm. "Do you know what you're doing to her?" Chandler's blue eyes met his brown ones, "Chandler, she hasn't sleep but about 6 hours since Vegas. We can't get her to eat, and when we told her you weren't here, it only got worse."

"Why?" He asked, but he knew the reason, and the look on Joey's face said he knew that he knew. "I didn't break up with her. I just needed some space, you know?" Joey pressed his lips together and punched his other arm, hard. "Damn it Joseph, you do that again I will kick your ass! Stop it!" Chandler yelled back at him.

"I told you that I owe you a lot more than that! Where in the hell did you go that was such a cure for you and your 'alone time'?" He put quotations around alone time, "Where was so important to you that you couldn't pick up the fucking phone and call me?"

Chandler looked down at the floor, and then back up at him, "I was at Niagara Falls."

"Niagara Falls?"

"Yeah." He said, flopping down on the couch behind him, "I've always loved it there, you know? It's peaceful."

Joey sighed, still wanting to choke him, but calming down a little. He _was_ glad that his best friend was alive and breathing. He sat on the other end of the couch, "You need to talk to Monica."

Chandler nodded, "I know."

"What are you going to say to her?"

"I don't know." Chandler admitted.

Joey shook his head, "Stop punishing her."

"What?"

"Stop punishing her." Joey said again. "She's had enough."

"I'm not punishing her." Chandler told him, "You don't think I have a right to be upset about this?"

"Do you love her?"

"Yes, of course I love her." He sat back, taking a deep breath.

"Then forgive her. This situation is not worth losing her over. You can't do much better than Monica Geller."

"I know that." He replied, standing from the couch, Joey following him. Chandler picked up his bag and put it over his shoulder again. Joey took a step towards him and Chandler stepped back in fear of another bruise on his body, but Joey only grabbed him for a hug instead.

Chandler sighed, relieved that Joey seemed to get him, at least a little. "Talk to her in the morning, please."

The friends broke and Chandler headed towards his bedroom, exhausted from the drive and well…life. "Goodnight."

"Night." Joey said, "Sorry about the punching."

Chandler closed his eyes and nodded, "I guess I deserved it."

"Oh, you did."

He watched as his friend went back into his room, shutting the door behind him. Chandler walked into his own room, closing both parts of the door.

Joey made a point to get up before his roommate, walking across the hall to greet his other friends. "Guys." Joey said, looking around, noticing somebody was missing, "Where's Monica?" He asked.

Rachel took a sip of her coffee before answering. "She had to go down to the restaurant. Her boss wanted to see her about the work she's missed. Have you heard from Chandler?"

"Yeah, have you?" Ross asked.

Joey sighed, "Chandler is fine. He's in his room asleep."

The other three people in the room surrounded Joey with a hundred different questions.

"Where was he?"

"Why didn't he call?"

"Is he okay?"

"Whoa, whoa, guys. He's fine. He was at Niagara Falls." He ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know why he didn't call. I told him what he put us through." Joey saw the look on Ross's face and stepped in front of him before he stormed across the hall. "I handled it, okay? I told him what he put us through. I told him that we called the police to report a missing person _because_ he didn't call. I told him to talk to Monica. I'm fixing it."

Ross sighed, "He deserves it from me, okay?"

Joey shook his head, yet again defending Chandler, "No, he doesn't."

"Joey I-."

Phoebe cut in, "He's right, Ross. He's been through enough, and he's going to have more to go through when he talks to Monica."

"Why is Monica already down at the restaurant?" Joey asked, his arms open in surprise.

"Well it is 10:00." Rachel said to him, "The boss gets there early."

"She needs to be here so that she can talk to Chandler." He turned towards the door, "I'm going to go get her."

Joey held the handle of the door when it opened, Chandler walking through. "Oh hey." Chandler said, and was quickly greeted by Phoebe and Rachel, who ran up to him, hugging him tightly. They each slapped him on the shoulders when they broke, causing him to groan, "Okay, okay. Joey has already taken care of the hitting."

Ross stood in the living room, staring at him. Chandler took a couple of steps towards him. "I'm glad you're alive." He said.

He nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

Joey turned to leave again when the door opened, all 5 people in the room turned to see Monica standing in the doorway. She looked at Chandler for a few seconds. "Oh thank God!" She ran to him, jumping into his arms and holding him tightly. He squeezed her body to him; he actually missed her a _lot_. "I'm so glad you're okay." She told him, holding the back of his head.

The other four people decided to leave the apartment, closing the door softly behind them. They needed to be alone.

"I'm fine." He said to her. They finally pulled back from each other and she leaned up to kiss him, relieved that he let her. The kiss didn't last long, but it was what she needed to believe that he was in the same room she was in again.

"I'm sorry." Monica said to him, and it was then he noticed her pale complexion.

"Have you eaten?" Chandler asked her, even though he already knew the answer.

Monica shook her head, "No, but I…" She tucked some hair behind her ear, "I'm not hungry."

"Monica." He sighed and walked to the kitchen, pulling down a bowl and a box of cereal. "You have to eat."

He opened the refrigerator and pulled out the milk. After pouring the cereal, he pulled out the chair, "Come on, please. Come eat something."

She slowly walked to the chair and sat down it, taking the spoon from him and watching as he poured the milk. He sat down in the chair next to hers and waited for her to take a bite. She finally did and looked over at him, "Where were you?" She asked, her voice soft.

Chandler was already tired of that question, "I was at Niagara Falls."

Monica nodded taking another bite of her cereal, "I should've figured that out. You love it there."

He nodded, "Yeah, I do."

She cleared her throat before placing the spoon on the table and grabbing his hand, "Don't do that again."

He nodded again, "I won't. I'm sorry I made you worry."

"I'm so sorry about…"

"I know." He interrupted. He _really_ didn't need to hear the reason she was sorry.

"Are you still mad?"

"Not mad." He said, "Just…I'm just tired of it all." She nodded, understanding completely where he was coming from. "Eat." He pointed to the spoon that sat on the table.

"I'm really not hungry."

"Monica…Eat." He repeated.

Rolling her eyes, she picked up the spoon and scooped some cereal onto it. When she finished, she grabbed a napkin and wiped her lips, "I love you." She told him.

He nodded, "I know." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, "I love you, too." Silence fell over them as she continued to eat her breakfast and she actually felt better when she finished it. "Do you want more?" He asked.

"No, thank you. I feel a lot better."

"It's only a couple of hours until lunch anyway." She sighed, nodding. She wondered if he thought she was pathetic as she felt.

"I wanted to come find you." She finally said. "Ross and Joey wouldn't let me. They said I would never find you."

Chandler shook his head, "I didn't want to be found, Monica. I needed some time."

She got out of her chair and knelt down steadying herself by placing her hand on his knee, "It didn't mean anything."

"What?"

"The kiss. With Richard. It didn't mean anything."

"You say that now but…"

"No, babe, it didn't. I do not want to be with him, it wouldn't matter if he came in here and said he wanted children with me."

"Why did you lie to me about it?"

"I didn't know how to tell you." She said honestly, "I'm sorry. It's not going to happen again. I will always be one hundred percent honest with you."

He nodded and lifted her hand off his knee, pulling her up to sit in his lap, "Come here." She followed instructions and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry that I put you through that. It wasn't fair."

She placed a hand on his face, rubbing the skin there carefully, "I love you." She said again. He smiled for the first time in days and wrapped his arms around her waist, closing the gap between their lips.

When they broke, Chandler moved his hand up to her face, "Let's be us again, okay?"

Monica nodded, leaning down to kiss him again.

 _This_ is what she needed.

Him.


End file.
